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All signs point to U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. turning the corner with his health issues, as lead singer Bono revealed.
In an interview with Rolling Stone about his new film Bono: Stories of Surrender, the “With or Without You” singer was asked about Mullen. He made it seem like the band's drummer is in the clear and fully recovered from his issues.
“We've been playing in the room together, the four of us. And I can tell you he is completely through whatever storm of injury he's been through,” Bono revealed. “His playing is at its most innovative. He's just all about the band. He doesn't want to talk about anything else, which is kind of amazing.”
Of course, this is music to the ears of U2 fans. Larry Mullen Jr. missed U2's Sphere residency due to his health issues. But now, he appears back in the saddle. To his credit, he did record “Atomic City” with his bandmates, which was recorded to promote the Sphere shows.
He then praised all four of U2's members, including The Edge and Adam Clayton. Bono explained that they all have a “singular” part in the group. It sounds like their next album will try to recapture their “rock & roll” roots.
“By the way, being a band in a room where each individual musician has a role that's singular and collective is so rare because music is assembled these days,” Bono explained. “And even some of our music we have assembled, and we’ll do that again, but to try and capture a moment of a rock & roll band in full flight is at the heart of this record that we’re making that we’ve recorded, but we are not finished.”
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Still, the album is not finished. When asked if he knew when the album may be done, Bono replied, “No.” But it does look like the band is hard at work.
He was also asked about being as retrospective as U2 has been lately. Their last album, Songs of Surrender, was a collection of 40 re-recorded songs from their past albums. The last album of new material was Songs of Experience, released in 2017.
Over the last decade, U2 has also embarked on a retrospective Joshua Tree Tour and a Sphere residency centered around Achtung Baby. Bono is aware that these are nostalgic concerts, and the band is finding their way into the “future.”
“Nostalgia is not to be tolerated for too long, but sometimes you've got to deal with the past in order to get to the future and to the present,” he said. “To get back to now is our desire. Get back to this moment we're in. We've been recording. And it sounds like future to me. We had to go through some stuff, and we're at the other end of it.”
